When the Janes met Tarzan

Manaus Travel Blog

Having spent time in the Amazon in Ecuador I thought my dream of seeing the Amazon was realised, however it was always my dream to come to Brasil, where the majority of the Amazon territory lies. This really is it, the realisation of my dream and the experience was so much richer and rewarding than i ever imagined.

We set off on day one to see the meeting of the waters. There are several large rivers that surround Manaus, a once very wealthy port town during the rubber boom but despite being less welathy it´s still a very active port. The main three rivers are the Rio Negro with black acidic waters, the Rio Solimões with Cafe au lait waters and a normal PH level and these two rivers combine to create the mighty Amazon river which in places is 10 miles wide! The two rivers run side by side for some miles due to the temperature and flow differences creating a unique sight - 2 different coloured rivers mingling side by side before joining to create the largest river in the world.

The most beautiful local children

Our first day we visited an ´ecological area´ where we saw the native giant lillies and a local village. There was not so much of a reserve about it, more that they cornered some lillies and kept them for tourists which was a shame but still lovely to see.

We finally arrived at the floating Green Lodge in one of the tributaries off of the Rio Negro in the Northern part of the territory around Manaus. We chose this as it´s within Primary Rainforest and has less Mozquitos due to the PH levels of the river! We met our Tarzan who was actually called Joseph and we went out Pirhana fishing. This time i was far more successful and caught two pirhana of a less embarrassing size! Very pleased with myself!

We then went to paddle in our canoe through the high waters and saw spider monkeys in the wild, which was really unusual as they are uually in denser forest.

In amongst the giant lillies

We were a very happy bunch when we were also fortunate enough to see the most beautiful sunset from the midde of the river. The sun setting over this old mystical place was a sight i´ll never forget and for me the culmination of many years of dreaming and planning of coming here. This was my dream, this is it realised.

The first night was rather relaxed and mozzie free sitting in the lodge and listening to the jungle around us come to life. Unlike last time there was no disturbed sleep just a peaceful drifting off to sleep. This place is so special and i´m so lucky to be here.